Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.
Today's financial services bill concentrates more and more power in the hands of the Minister of Finance: the power to make regulations, the power to decide on ownership, and the power to decide about mergers. All of this comes at the expense of parliamentary democracy, making this place less and less relevant to the Canadian people.
Can the minister explain why hoarding all that extra power in his hands, in effect making himself a banking czar in this country, is in the public interest?